Criteria for Advanced Lung Diseases and Transplant

Ideal candidates must meet the following criteria:

  • Advanced lung disease with limited 2-year survival
  • Oxygen dependent
  • Age generally 70 years or younger
  • Ambulatory and/or potential for rehabilitation
  • Abstinence from tobacco use
  • Adequate psychosocial support
  • No significant associated comorbidities

Once listed as a lung transplant candidate, the patient’s referring primary care physician, pulmonologist and/or cardiologist continue to provide primary care while the patient waits for a suitable donor lung. Follow-up visits to Newark Beth Israel are scheduled at approximately one- to three-month intervals to monitor the candidate’s medical status. Following transplantation, the team collaborates with the referring physician to support patients in optimizing their respiratory and overall health.

Patient Stories

  • Following a heart and lung transplant at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Ethiel Fontalvo said, “I can walk — I do three miles now — and I can climb up the stairs. Before, I was out of breath after 12 steps.”

    Ethiel
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  • “I learned in 2016 that I would eventually need a lung transplant,” says Dawn Burke, 60, of Keyport. She had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease that scars the lungs.

    Dawn
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  • “Some patients recover sooner than others, it truly depends on the individual,”

    Craig
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Patient Stories

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